Join me in an investigation to discover who this mystery band is!
When I first saw the catalog number on this release, it looked like the numbering of a Puritan or Triangle release. My first suspicion was that it could be a Paramount master. While Puritan 11213 did not seem to be a match, Puritan 11222 (Mx 837) is a version of “Aunt Hagar’s Blues” by Lanin’s Southern Serenaders licensed from Paramount and issued as Paramount 20068 with “Shake It Break It”.
However, upon listening to Puritan 11222, this is not the same recording at all. Hear for yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnSH7STLke0
Triangle 11213 and Belvedere 11213 both feature the same coupling credited to the Broadway Melody Makers. So that got me looking in a different direction. The matrix (1421) led me to an entry in Rust’s American Dance Band Discography for the Olympic Dance Orchestra (Instrumentation and personnel unknown).
The Olympic Discography by Allan Sutton lists Olympic 1421 with the same coupling, but credits it to the Mobile Syncopators, noting that this is likely a pseudonym. It further adds to the confusion by citing an issue of Talking Machine World that listed Olympic 1421 as credited to the Olympic Dance Orchestra in the Advance Bulletin section. It also notes that this coupling was released on the super scarce LaBelle, Majestic labels in addition to the labels already mentioned.
So who were the Mobile Syncopators? I can find no record of that band outside of the reference in the Olympic Discography. Now you know everything I know. Anyone have any ideas, citations, educated guesses, or possibilities? Or is this one of those unsolvable mysteries of early jazz that will likely never be resolved?
Recorded circa January 1923.
Issued as Broadway 11213.
Originally released as Olympic 1421.
The CLUES:
The other side of this record can be heard at:
https://youtu.be/Jj9G_17OU8w
Olympic Discography
https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/pdfs/Olympic-Discography.pdf
Popsike Listing for the Belvedere issue:
https://www.popsike.com/78-RPM-Broadway-Melody-Makers-Belvedere-11213-V-Jazz-Rare-label/234935638779.html
Gripsweat listing for the Triangle issue:
https://gripsweat.com/item/394435660339/jazz-broadway-melody-makers-aunt-hagars-blues-rare-and-hot-1923-triangle-78
78Discography listing for the Triangle label
https://www.78discography.com/Tri11000.htm
78 Discography listing for the Paramount 20000 series
https://www.78discography.com/PMT20000.htm
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